I just fell out of love with my 34 Ford and I was never going to love it as much as I thought I might, so I sold it. At about the same time, this 40 Ford Sedan Delivery unfinished project popped up. It was already painted extremely well by Matt Snopek, was sitting on a Roadster Shop chassis and had lots of quality purchased parts. The only bad part was that it was in upstate NY and I was in NC. It didn't take me long to say F it, I'm gonna drive up there and do this deal. So after putting down a deposit, I drove 1500 miles round trip this week and Dave Phelps hauled it back home for me. There is a good bit of work left to be done but the hard stuff is done. I've always loved these and I'm going to try to do it justice. It is OT mainly because of the chassis but I'm not apologizing. I like to drive my cars on long trips and this one will not be the exception. I will try to keep this thread updated as I progress. Oh yeah, it was originally going to be black monochrome but I don't dig that. Chrome is the jewelry of old cars and I will add some back, for sure.
That would involve changing hood, etc. So it's not going to happen....although I like the way you think.
Beautiful paint! You're doing it right by putting the chrome back on it. It's such a big visual part of the era. We remember the painted bumper street blob '80's....
Semi Pro trip of the week, an assembled car takes up roughly 1/3 of the space of a disassembled car. Although, it can change to 1/4 if you buy someone else's unfinished project. I definitely have multiples of some things.
Great find always been been a sedan delivery fan, owned a 54 chevy and a 50 Pontiac but I always considered the 40 ford delivery to be the best ever.
It smells like a cabinet shop in here today. I'm no woodworker but when you got a nice oak floor in your old car, I guess you have to finish it. Getting it out after the body was put on the chassis was a real bear. Tomorrow, I'll start applying spar varnish.
The nicely crafted oak floor in the SD was not going to support heavy loads like my upholsterer and a helper doing interior work. After getting a picture of how the factory did it with 2 X 4's, I came up with this design using 1 X 2 tubing. I've been working on this between coats of varnish. The two boards will have pockets routed into them to accommodate the bolt heads. Edit: After further thought at 3 AM, I decided to use a holesaw and sink the heads of the bolts into the tube.
Well the floor is in and I am worn out from screwing for hours! There must be 200 screws that hold that floor together. It turned out nice and it's much stronger now. I wish the lighting was better but you get the idea. Also, I got the gas tank back in which is a pretty good job in this chassis. By doing all of that, I can now move around in my shop more easily.
Lest you think I'm just bolting parts on, here is this morning's project. They only made about 5000 of these S/D's. The door latches are 85 years old and worn out, plus no one makes any replacements for them, especially the cargo door. After examining them, I decided to go with a bear jaw conversion for the front doors but I couldn't find an alternative for the cargo door. The biggest problem is that the actuating lever gets worn on the boss that keeps it centered and the square hole gets worn, so the handle sags. I studied this and I know Ford made at least 7 different door latches in 1940.....and they are all different. No common parts! So, I reasoned that if I could find a right rear suicide door handle from a Ford or, it might work. Well, with a bunch of modifying, I finally got it to work. Thank God for my TIG welder or it wouldn't have happened. I made a video but they aren't allowed on the site. Take my word, it works and the handle doesn't sag.
The 41 Ford taillights installed by a previous owner looked like ass and didn't fit at all. So, I decided to go with 39 Zephyr taillights but I had to make a mount for them that fit the compound curve of the rear corners. I made an adjustable jig to help me get the alignment right, rolled out the pattern for the side piece and welded it all up. It took me 2 tries but I'm happy with the results. Do you think these look good?
Its funny. Every time I take a picture of something I'm working on or finishing, the first thing that jumps out at me is my reflection. This car has an awesome paint job on it. I hope i can take care of it. Here's another one.
Last project for the week, since I'm headed to Columbus tomorrow. I'm installing a cable actuated hood release. Fabbed up these 2 panels for the lower portion. They will be painted black. They will fit tighter once I get some 1/4" flat head screws to replace the button heads underneath the long panel. Next up will be the upper mount.
These radiator mount brackets look simple enough, after I made them. Getting there was a bit of a trip, however. I've probably got 8 hours in these and I am not proud that it took me that long but I am proud of the result. The height of the radiator is just right to show off the polished tank and its an easy install. Next up is the hood latch.
Getting these made and adjusted was a chore. Now, I am having to wait for the rubber to settle, so I can adjust it to the closed height I want. Here is a tip if you're installing this type of latch. The safety latch has to be manually pushed back to close the hood. If it is installed so that it will close automatically, it will bind on the backside and prevent the hood from closing. Lesson learned.
The Jalopy Journal
